Drying-machine



J. L. PIERCE.

DRYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE II, 1919.

Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

4 SHEElS-SHEET I.

4 E IKHQ K QEIQMQE I llllll b9 WITNESSES A TTOHNE Y J. L. PIERCE.

DRYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1919.

1,356,469, Patented Oct. 19,1920.

4 SHEElS-SHEET 2.

A TTORfv'EKS J. L. PIERCE.

DRYING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11. 1919.

Patented Oct. 19 1920.

SHEET 3.

INVENTUR J4/7t'5 LOU/.5 P/f/iCf By ATTORNEYS J. L. PIERCE.

DRYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1919- 4 SHEE1$SHEET 4.

A TTOR/VEVS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES LOUIS PIERCE, OF MA NILA., PHTLIPPINE ISLANDS.-

DRSfI'NG-MACHINE. P

a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to new and usefully improved drying machines. Inparticular it relates to a machine for drying copra, fish, vegetablesand other food products and materials in preparation for shipment andfor the market.

A broad purpose of this inventiypxa is to design and provide a machineca able of dryin 'large quantities of food products or material. andwhich will have an extensive range of uses in food preparing plants andindustries. A purpose is to employ a conveyer device within a heating ordrying chamber, said conveyer embodying a carrying section and aretaining section for carrying the material through the drying chamberto be dried. Turning means for exposing the materials to the heat fordrying, and the provision of a novel hot air circulation medium arefeatures related to this invention.

'Still another purpose is to provide a drying machine simple inoperation, strong and sturdy in construction and comparativelyinexpensive to manufacture.

With the above and other objects in View, the invention has relation toa certain combination and arrangement of parts, an example of which isdescribed in the following specification, pointed out in the appendedclaims, and illustrated in the accompanying elevation the view, thesection being taken horizontally,

thus showing portions of the machine in plan view; i

(Fig. 5 illustrates a detailed view of a portion of the air distributingsystem.

Fig. 6 illustrates a detailed View of the conveyer belts and supporting.means or track upon which it moves.

Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

Application filed June 11, 1919. Serial No. 303,298.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, wherein the same partsthroughout the several views are designated by reference characters ofthe same denomination, the numeral 1 points out a set of verticallydisposed frame members comprising substantially the foundation of theframe assembly of the drier. These frame pieces 1 are preferably channel-members, and the machine will preferably be constructed throughout ofsteel or iron. drawings illustrate such a construction and thespecification may refer to the channel and angle construction inconnection with sheet-metal without in any way limiting the inventor tohis rights of using other materials. I I

Closure walls 2 are fitted and joined ,to the channel frame pieces 1 andform the sides of the machine. Walls 8 are rovided which further inclosethe drier. eams 4 are employed as a foundation for the drier and supportthe herein described frame. The foregoing description discloses asubstantially inclosed housing and is employed as the drying or hot airchamber. This chamber contains the drying apparatus. The top of thecasing is left open to receive a traveling conveyer as later seen. Aplurality of rollers 5 and 6 are mounted respectively upon shafts 7 and8. The rollers are arranged horizontally one above the other in bearings9 which are bolted or otherwise secured to the vertical framechannels 1. The rollers are evenly and regularly spaced apart one abovethe other as illustrated. These rollers have a length substantiallyequal .in width to the inclosed casing of the machine, as seen in Fig.6, and are arranged in sets 5 and 6 at each end of the hot air chamber.v

One of the roller sets, in this instance 6, has the shafts which mountthe rollers'extended through the bearings and fixed thereupon gears 10.These gears are alined one above the other and engage with gears 11fixed upon the shaft 12 extending vertically the height of the machinefrom the lower roller to the upper roller. One ex- The present a tremityof the shaft 12 is fitted with a bevel gear 13 engaging with a drivepinion 14. The pinion'14 is mounted on a shaft 15. The shaft 15 will beused as a power' in the drawings for driving the rollers, and thetransmission assembly shown in Fig. 1 comprises the means for receivingthe power through the shaft 15 driving the operating means of thisdrying machine. The roller set 5 located at the other end of the machineruns idle in the bearings provided.

A conveyer device comprising cooperating endless belt sections isemployed as hereinafter described, and 5 used for holding the materialsbetween said sections and passing it through the hot air chamber.

A conveyer belt 16 is passed about the two roller sets as illustratedand thus forms a plurality of horizontal drying tiers of I conveyersurface. The upper portion of the conveyer: belt passes on a gradualslope above the upper edge of the casing and around a roller 17, thenceback over a guide roller 18 and downwardly to the lower portionof themachine and about another guide roller 19, thence along the lowerportion of the casing to the lower roller of the roller set 6. Theroller 17. is provided with a slide block 20 carrying the bearings andshaft 21 of the roller 17. A spring 22 connects with the slide block andis attached to a screwthreaded bolt 23. The member 23 is passed througha bracket 24 secured upon one ofthe frame pieces. The tension of thespring can be adjusted through the member 23 so that theco'nveyer beltwill be taut,

and thus relieved of sags and tendencies to wrinkle. The roller andspring assembly provide a flexible and yieldable tightening meansconstantly exerted against the conveyer belt thereby keeping it tightwhen in operation.

A wire gauze retaining belt 25 is provided and operates in engagementwith the conveyer belt. This belt is passed over guide rollers 26, 27and 28 journaled in bearings supported upon the frame. The gauzeretaining belt is directed from the roller 26 downwardly to the upperroller of the set 6, thence horizontally back and forth over the rollers5 and 6 in engagement with the conveyer belt. The lower portions of thegauze retaining belt is passed around the roller 29 back along the lowerportion of the casing and over the guide roller 28, as aforesaid. Thearrows in Fig. 3 designate the direction of travel of the engagedconveyer belt and gauze retaining belt. These belts are driven over therollers by the power delivered to the machine through the shaft 15, ashereinbefore described, and the gauze belt travels in engagement withthe conveyer belt, the said gauze belt running idle and receiving itsmoving relation in connection with the conveyer belt by virtue of itsfrictional contact therewith. The reference characters A and B point outthe position of the conveyer and the gauze retaining belt at the pointswhere they move into engaged relation and separate one from another. Theguide roller 26 is fitted with the flexible spring adjusting meanssimilar to the one hereinbefore described used in connection with theconveyer belt. This comprises a tension spring 29 connected with ascrew-threaded bolt 30. The roller 26 is carried in the slide block 31.Thus a flexible and yieldable pull is exerted against the gauzeretaining belt which keeps said belt in tight and straight relation asit moves int; engagement with the conveyer belt at A plurality ofhorizontal support bars 32 is fixed upon channel members 33 which arethemselves secured to the side walls of the casing and extend the lengththereof. The support bars 32 impart rigidity and strength to the wallsof the casing. A plurality of ribs or laths 34.- is supported upon thecross members 32. These ribs are regularly spaced apart and curved downat each end as shown in Fig. 2. The gauze retaining belt runs in closerelation with these ribs, the said ribs being provided in tiers for thesupport of the engaged conveyer and retaining belt when the conveyer isloaded with material. Fig. 6 illustrates this function of the ribs.

A hot air system is used in connection with this drying machine for thepurpose of continuously projecting a stream of hot air into the casingof the machine to permeate upwardly through the tiers of the movingconveyer with its material undergoing the drying process. Any suitableform of hot air system which is-appropriate in volume will be used andconnected with this ma chine. A hot air furnace or other means forsupplying said air will be connected with a conduit 35 which may beincased in the earth to insulate it from cooling effects. Hot airdistributing pipes 36 and 37 communicate with the main pipe 35. The airpipes 36 and 37 stand vertically adjacent the end walls of the machine.A plurality of air distributing pipes 38 connect with the distributers36 and 37. These air pipes 38 extend out horizontally from eachdistributer and along side the end of the casing. A battery of airprojectors or nozzles 39, attached to the air pipes 38 are insertedwithin the opposite walls of the air chamber with their aperturesdirected toward and parallel with the tiers of the conveyer belt. Theairprojectors are so spaced apart and arranged that a stream of hot airwill be projected between the tiers of the conveyer and against theopposite roller which forms a stop and thus momentarily retains thepressure of hot air until it escapes upwardly through the top of the airchamber.

In the operation of the machine the materials to be dried such as copra,fish, vegetables or other materialswill be placed on sure of the gauzeretaining belt against the material will materially aid in opening thepores of said material and force the moisture therefrom, thus more fullysubjecting it to the drying action of the hot air which permeatesupwardly through the plurality of tiers.

The hot air. will be brought through the open conduits as describedunder pressure and distribute throughout the battery of projectingnozzles which will thoroughly fill. the casing with a volume of hot airunder pressure. A stream of hot air will be projected from each nozzleunder and against the conveyer belts and outwardly until saidstream ofhot air'rebounds against the opposite guide roller. This throws the hotair under pressure against the conveyer belts which materially aids thedrying of the copra, fish and vegetables within the heated air medium.

The products to be dried such as fish and vegetables undergo repeatedturns from one tier to the next. This feature materially aids in drivingthemoisture from the materials. The reference character D designates acontinuous strip of material which may be dried by starting it in themachine in Strip the upper portion of the conveyer bringing it out atthe lower portion thereof at E. This material is a diagrammaticalillustration of substance or materials "to be dried, vegetables or otherfoods which might be passed through the machine are omitted from thedrawings, but will be understood to occ]u)py the same relative positionas the A control valve 'will preferably be emp loyed somewhere betweenthe hot air fur- .nishing'means and the distributing pipes.

This valve can be used to regulate the flow and pressure of hot airthrough the drier.

terials by numerals or other means.

manner as to designate the dilferent 11132.-

or example, a certain kind of vegetable will re quire a fixed period oftime and speed of travel through the machine to thoroughly dry same.This time required upon a certain commodity to be dried will bedetermined by experimentation and tabulated for use by the operator ofthe machine. operator of the machine may therefore have at his disposaltabulated instructions directing and designating the proper temperatureand speed combination for the specific material to be dried. This systemwhen used in connection with the drying machine will insure a maximumoperating efficiency and a minimum expenditure of heat and power energy.

The drying machine and the process and system herein disclosed forms amost adequate and modern method for preparing various kinds of foodstuffs for shipment and for the markets.

Claims:

1. A drying machine comprising a hot air chamber, a hot air distributingmeans for maintaining an evenly warm temperature in the chamber, aconveyer comprising separable endless sections joined together betweenwhich joined sections material to be dried is held, rollers for holdingthe conveyer and moving it through the hot air chamber thus subjectingthe material to the heating and drying action of the hot air chamber,and supporting racks comprising ribs arranged under the moving conveyerfor supporting said conveyer when ladened with material to be dried.

The

2. A drying machine comprising a hot air chamber, a battery of hot airprojectors introduced in the chamber, a plurallty of ribs arranged intiers and extending substantially the length of the chamber, rollersjournaled in the chamber, a conveyer carried on the rollers, a gauzebelt applied to the conveyer and adapted to hold material on theconveyer to be dried, and a power shaft and gear set for transmittingmotion to the rollers for moving the conveyer throu h the hot airchamber.

3. .drying machine, in combination with a hot air drying chamber, a hotair feed pipe, a battery of hot air projectors introduced in the dryingchamber, distributing pipes connecting the projectors with the feedpipe, tiers of supporting racks extending the length of the chamber, aset of rollers journaled in the chamber, a traveling conveyer-mounted onthe rollers and in supported engagement with the tiers of sup portingracks to prevent sagging of the conveyer when ladened with material tobe dried, and means for moving the conveyer through the chamber.

4. A drying machine for preparing food stuffs for the market comprising,in combination a heatingchamber embodied Within closure Walls ofappropriate size, a plurality of air projectors or nozzles inserted inthe oppositely disposed Walls of the chamber and arranged in rows, airfeed pipes connected with a source of air under pressure and deliveringair to the projectors, devices comprising substantially parallelsections of exposed surface for holding materials to be dried, andarrangement of the parallel sections in staggered relation to the rowsof projectors so that the air flow from the projectors Will be blownbetween the parallel sections of exposed surface.

5. A drying machine comprising in combination a heating chamber embodiedWithin closure Walls of appropriate size, a plurality of air projectorsor nozzles inserted in the oppositely disposed Walls of the chamber andarranged in rows, air feed pipes connected With a source of air underpressure and delivering'air to the projectors, a traveling conveyer forcarrying material through the chamber to be dried, and said conveyercomprising conjoined sections With material placed therebetween to bedried, and provision for inserting and removing material from theconveyer.

JAMES LOUIS PIERCE.

